Capital Concrete Supplies HS2 Central Section in London

Bringing their industry expertise and state-of-the-art batching capability, Capital Concrete are supplying the Skanska, Costain and Strabag (SCS) joint venture for their HS2 works in London. The supplied material will be crucial for advanced tunnelling works stretching from Euston to Old Oak Common.

The project’s ‘Central Section’ in London is being solely supplied by Capital Concrete, which represents roughly a third of the total concrete needed for HS2 in London.

Luke Smith, Capital Concrete’s Managing Director, said: “We’re delighted to have been asked to supply this critical infrastructure project. The client required a company that had considerable experience of large infrastructure projects in London, and the team at Capital Concrete have worked on some of London’s most prestigious and complex projects, which meant there was a lot of relevant expertise that we could bring."

London's new 'super hub' station at Old Oak Common 

Luke continued: “In addition to having very experienced people with know-how, our state-of-the-art batching plants allow us to meet the high volumes of concrete required. The high output plant at Wembley is well positioned to supply the tunnelling works, being able to bring in material via rail means we can reduce the amount of road traffic on congested London roads.”

The largest single pour was for 952m³ of concrete involving over 100 truck deliveries in one shift 

Capital Concrete have already supplied a substantial amount of material to enabling works for the Central Section, including 952m³ of concrete in a single pour carried out over the busy pre-Christmas period, which involved over 100 truck deliveries in a single shift. The supply goes beyond sheer volume though.

Jack Sindhu, Technical Manager at Capital Concrete, explains how the specialist properties of the mix itself can benefit the project. “The use of a high GGBS blend levels in mixes reduces the likelihood of any thermal cracking in the concrete and provides a low embodied carbon and sustainable concrete,” says Jack. “The inclusion of limestone coarse aggregate is also beneficial, for thicker sections cast as it provides a lower thermal conductivity in comparison to gravel and granite aggregates.”

Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) is being delivered from Capital Concrete's Wembley site

Also being delivered to the project is Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC®), a zero cement, geopolymer material, exclusively licensed for supply by Capital Concrete in London. Depending on the mix, EFC offers an improved saving in embodied carbon of up to 87%, making it an innovative way of meeting sustainability targets.

So far, we have supplied approximately 1700m3 of EFC to this project, which is primarily being used for the temporary piling mat and base slabs,” Jack says. “With HS2 contractors having been challenged by the government to reduce their carbon footprint by 50%, ultra-low-carbon concrete is an important resource to leverage.”

For more information regarding Earth Friendly Concrete supply, please call our Capital Concrete team on 020 3974 0520 or click to visit the Earth Friendly Section of the Capital Concrete website